Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The Kaʿba Orientations is a monograph on the most important building in the history of Islamic culture and religion, which has nonetheless received surprisingly little scholarly attention to date.The author, a prolific historian of Islamic architecture, employs a transdisciplinary approach.Under creative chapter headings in the form of "The Kaʿba as…" and "The House as…", he brings together materials from architectural history, art history, scientific and folk astronomy, travel literature, and mystical and theological texts to comprehensively examine the Kaʿba in the pre-modern period.In this, he does not, in my view, proceed in a "multidisciplinary" way (pp.4-5); rather, he directly relates the partial analyses to one another, though with a transdisciplinary attitude and a fine attunement to terminological issues (e.g., for the designation of the Kaʿba as temple, betyl, house, or palladium, pp.6-7).The author's systematic approach focuses on the spatial dimension of this Islamic sanctuary and conceives of its main religious function as orientation, in accordance with Charles Long (p. 1).O'Meara's book is structured as a zoom-in from "furthest to nearest" (pp.3-4).He first discusses the qibla function of the Kaʿba, including whether the Kaʿba or Mecca indicated the direction of the qibla, the metaphorical transfer of its function to rulers, and the extent to which profane buildings were also oriented toward the Kaʿba.This is followed by a discussion of David King's discovery that the Kaʿba is oriented astronomically not cardinally (pp.40-42), its function as the navel of the world, and its possible role in the naming of places.The third chapter addresses the fact that although the Kaʿba has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, this has not led to apocalyptic expectations on the part of Muslims.O'Meara then discusses the rituals conducted at the Kaʿba, explains that there have been few attempts by Islamic scholars to explain them rationally (leading to their consequent neglect in Orientalist
Source: Die Welt des Islams
Author: Berenike Metzler
Institution: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4366582500